If you or someone you know sends a lot of text messages, and don’t have the benefit of the iPhone’s iMessage, a better way to go might be GroupMe, an app from Skype.com that works with any cell phone.

It lets up to four people send each other text messages and photos for free, so they don’t use minutes from their phone plan. It works with all kinds of phones, even cheap pre-paid phones like one we bought at a grocery store. Just set up a “push notification” in the app, so you know when a message is coming in, even if the app isn’t open.

Another Skype service that might come in handy is their “online number.” It lets people call your computer, iPad, iPod Touch, Android tablet or any other device connected to the Internet from a cell phone or landline, just by dialing that number. It costs $60 a year for the online number or $18 for three months. It costs nothing to receive calls this way. But if you make calls to non-Skype users, you need to buy “Skype-Out” credits, which cost about two-cents a minute. If both parties are using Skype; then the calls are completely free.